Prospects for completing a giant spending bill and avoiding another government shutdown appeared to improve Tuesday, as a top negotiator said a repeat of October’s ObamaCare-driven shutdown could be avoided.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who chairs a subcommittee overseeing health, labor and education spending, told reporters that the $1 trillion omnibus is nearing completion, and that both sides should be able to agree on an ObamaCare compromise.

ADVERTISEMENT

While the GOP has signaled it wants to avoid a shutdown in this fight, funding for the healthcare law remains a deeply divisive issue within the party, and it's unclear how it will be massaged in the omnibus. The Hill’s Erik Wasson reports.

McConnell wanted to offer at least two amendments that he said would help pay for the three-month extension: delaying ObamaCare's individual insurance mandate for one year and restoring a $6 billion cut in military retiree benefits. The Hill’s Ramsey Cox reports.

UI vs. ObamaCare Round II: Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said Tuesday he would propose an amendment that would replace a Senate plan to extend emergency unemployment benefits for three months with new tax breaks and an ObamaCare exemption aimed at creating an incentive to hire the unemployed.

Thune's proposal is one of what could become several GOP proposals to alter the unemployment bill, which advanced in the Senate earlier today with the help of six Republican votes. That bill would extend emergency unemployment benefits for three months, and many Republicans are likely to propose finding cuts to pay for that $6.4 billion cost. Pete Kasperowicz at The Hill reports.